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Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares

Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, 1st Duke of Sanlúcar, 3rd Count of Olivares, GE, known as the Count-Duke of Olivares (taken by joining both his countship and subsequent dukedom) (6 January 1587[1] – 22 July 1645), was a Spanish royal favourite (Spanish: valido) of Philip IV and minister. Appointed as Grandee on 10 April 1621, a day after the ending of the Twelve Years' Truce to January 1643, he over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform. His policy of committing Spain to recapture Holland led to a renewal of the Eighty Years' War while Spain was also embroiled in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). In addition, his attempts to centralise power and increase wartime taxation led to revolts in Catalonia and in Portugal, which brought about his downfall.

The Count-Duke of Olivares
Valido of the King of Spain
In office
25 January 1622 – 23 January 1643
MonarchPhilip IV
Preceded byBaltasar de Zúñiga
Succeeded byLuis de Haro
Personal details
Born(1587-01-06)6 January 1587
Rome, Papal States
Died22 July 1645(1645-07-22) (aged 58)
Toro, Spain
Spouse
(m. 1607)
Parents
Signature

Rise to power

 
Arms of the House of Olivares.
 
A relatively youthful Olivares in 1624, three years into his time in power, dressed in robes of the Order of Calatrava by Diego Velázquez

Olivares was born in Rome in 1587, where his father, Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares, from one of Spain's oldest noble families,[2] was the Spanish ambassador. His mother died young, and his father brought him up under a strict parental regime.[3] He returned to Spain in 1599, and became student rector at Salamanca University.[4] By background, he was both a man of letters and well trained in arms.[5] During the reign of King Philip III, he was appointed to a post in the household of the heir apparent, Philip, by his maternal uncle Don Baltasar de Zúñiga, a key foreign policy advisor to Phillip III,[6] who himself had already established a significant influence over the young prince.[7][8] Olivares in turn rapidly became the young prince's most trusted advisor.

When Philip IV ascended the throne in 1621, at the age of sixteen, he showed his confidence in Olivares by ordering that all papers requiring the royal signature should first be sent to the count-duke;[7] despite this, Olivares, then aged 34, had no real experience of administration.[9]

Olivares told his uncle de Zúñiga, who was to die the following year,[8] that he was now the dominant force at court;[10] he had become what is known in Spain as a valido, something more than a prime minister, the favourite and alter ego of the king. His compound title is explained by the fact that he inherited the title of Count of Olivares, but was created Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor by King Philip IV of Spain. He begged the king to allow him to preserve his inherited title in combination with the new honour — according to a practice almost unique in Spanish history. Accordingly, he was commonly spoken of as el conde-duque.[7]

Olivares' personality and appearance have attracted much comment, especially by 17th-century writers, who were generally critical of them.[9] He possessed a strikingly 'big, heavy body and florid face'.[11] Contemporaries described an 'extravagant, out-size personality with a gift for endless self-dramatisation',[12] others, more positively, have outlined a 'determined, perceptive and ambitious' personality.[8] Olivares' enemies saw in him a desire to acquire excessive wealth and power.[13] He disliked sports and light-hearted entertainment,[14] but was a good horseman, albeit hampered by his weight in later life.[15]

Olivares did not share the king's taste for personally acquiring art and literature, although he may have helped assemble the king's own collection,[16] and it was he who brought to Philip's attention the young artist Diego Velázquez, in 1623.[17] For himself he formed a vast collection of state papers, ancient and contemporary, which he endeavoured to protect from destruction by entailing them as an heirloom. He also formed a splendid aviary for the Buen Retiro Palace,[7] which lent him comfort after the death of his daughter but which opened the door for his enemies to nickname the entire Retiro the Gallinero, or the hencoop.[18]

Velázquez painted at least three portraits of his friend and original patron, producing the baroque equestrian portrait along with the standing portraits now at the Hermitage and São Paulo. It is possible that other portraits by Velázquez commissioned by the king were destroyed after Olivares' fall[19] — in a copy of Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School, his figure was painted over[20] — though a few minor portraits made in the conde-duque's last years of power remain.[21]

Style of government

The royal favourite, who also was Sumiller de Corps and Caballerizo mayor to the King, came to power with a desire to commit the monarchy to a 'crusade of reform',[22] with his early recommendations being extremely radical.[23] The heart of the problem, Olivares felt, was Spain's moral and spiritual decline.[24]

De Zúñiga and Olivares had both presented Philip IV with the concept of restoring the kingdom to its condition under Philip II, undoing the alleged decline that had occurred under the king's father, Philip III,[25] and in particular his royal favourite, the Duke of Lerma.[26] Olivares was concerned that Spain was too attached to the idea of limpieza de sangre, 'purity of blood', and worried about Castilians' disinclination for manual work.[27] For Olivares, the concept of Spain was centred on the monarchy and Philip IV as a person; unlike his French contemporary Cardinal Richelieu, Olivares did not elaborate a concept of the 'state' as separate from the person of the king.[28]

Olivares was inclined to see domestic policy as a tool in support of foreign policy – a common view amongst contemporary arbitristas, such as Sancho de Moncada and Jeronimo Zeballos.[8] Like many other contemporaries, he had a keen interest in astrology, and its potential impact on the world around him.[29] Naturally, he incorporated that interest into political expression: he promoted Philip as "The Planet King" — the Sun, traditionally the fourth planet, was a fitting emblem for the fourth Philip of Spain — taking for his own symbol the sunflower.[30] Whilst displaying huge confidence in his own capabilities and judgment,[14] he also felt considerable 'doubt and uneasiness' over his position as chief minister to the king.[31]

Olivares was well known for his passion for work. Olivares would rise early, go to confession, wake Philip IV and discuss the day's events with him, before then working throughout the rest of the day, often until 11 o'clock at night.[32] Initially, Olivares would meet with the king three times a day, although this declined over time until he met with him only once a day.[33] Whilst living a private life of "Spartan austerity" himself,[16] Olivares was skillful in using the formal and elaborate protocol of the court as a way of controlling the ambitions of Philip's enemies and rivals.[34]

Determined to attempt to improve the bureaucratic Castilian system of government, during the 1620s Olivares began to create juntas, smaller governmental committees, to increase the speed of decision making. By the 1630s, these were increasingly packed with Olivares' own placemen, tasked to implement his policies.[35] He placed tight controls on the use of special royal favours to circumvent tight spending controls.[36] The result was a very particular combination of centralised power in the form of Olivares, and loose government executed by small committees.[37]

Over time, Olivares began to suffer under his tremendous workload, developing sleeping disorders and, later in life, clearly suffering from mental illness.[25] He became increasingly impatient with those who disagreed with him, flying into rages, and refusing to listen to advice proffered by his own advisers.[38] His behaviour may also have been exacerbated by the severe bloodletting and excessive purging he received from his doctors at key moments in his career.[39] Olivares wrote extensively, although there are differences of opinion amongst modern scholars on his work: some find them 'forceful, incisive and persuasive',[40] others consider them 'inflated and tortuous prose', wandering down 'interminable labyrinths'.[41]

Foreign policies

For twenty-two years Olivares directed Spain's foreign policy. It was a period of constant war, and finally of disaster abroad and of rebellion at home. Olivares' foreign policy was based around his assessment that Philip IV was surrounded by jealous rivals across Europe, who wished to attack his position as a champion of the Catholic Church; in particular, Olivares saw the rebellious Dutch as a key enemy.[42] Although Olivares made much of religion as a facet of Spain's foreign policy, in practice he often overruled that principle.[43] It has also been argued that Olivares' dislike of flamboyant spending may have influenced his views of the Dutch Republic, known for its relatively open show of wealth.[44]

 
The re-taking of Breda, an early Spanish success in the Eighty Years' War that would ultimately result in Olivares' fall from power, by Diego Velázquez.

Olivares' first key decision came in 1621. Under Philip III, Spain had successfully intervened in the Electorate of the Palatinate in combination with the forces of the Emperor Ferdinand, a fellow Habsburg, during 1618–20, surrounding the Dutch provinces that had rebelled against Spanish rule some forty years before.[45]

An armistice had successfully held since April 1609, but in his role as foreign policy advisor, Olivares' uncle de Zúñiga had brought Spain closer and closer to recommencing hostilities as a means of improving Spain's negotiating position with the Dutch.[46] Olivares' new influence was central to the decision to finally abandon the armistice in favour of renewed military action using the Army of Flanders and economic warfare – ending the Twelve Years Truce and attacking Dutch fleets and applying trading embargoes.[47] This policy would ultimately fail over the next thirty years; to some the Spanish recommencement of the war has appeared 'surprising',[45] whilst it can also be explained as a misreading of internal Dutch politics.[46] Whilst the strategy itself was a failure, Olivares' tactics – his attempt to combine military and economic warfare – have since been praised as a 'shrewd policy'.[47]

For the remainder of the Eighty Years' War, Olivares would pursue a 'Netherlands first' strategy,[48] focusing his resources and attention on delivering success in the Netherlands first, with the hope of dealing with the other challenges facing the Spanish across Europe once this key Spanish possession had been secured. For the first fifteen years of the war, this strategy proved largely successful. Spain made considerable early advances against the Dutch, finally retaking the key city of Breda in 1624, albeit at huge expense.[49]

In 1634, against the backdrop of Swedish successes across northern Europe, Olivares was crucial to the creation of a fresh Spanish army in northern Italy, and the projection of that force under the leadership of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand along the Spanish Road into Germany, where the 'almost miraculous appearance'[4] of the army defeated the Protestant alliance at the Battle of Nördlingen. The scene had been set, Olivares believed, for a renewed attack on the Dutch.[citation needed]

Olivares' strategy ultimately failed due to the entry of France into the war. His handling of War of the Mantuan Succession, which started to pitch France against the Habsburgs in northern Italy and would ultimately result in the French invasion of Spain,[50] has been much criticised.[51] By 1634, France seeing the Spanish successes in Germany and the defeat of her Swedish allies, began raising the political stakes, taking provocative military action on a small scale. In 1635, Spain responded by intervening against the Elector of Trier,[52] a significant move that effectively forced a French declaration of war. By this stage in the war, Olivares' advice to the king was that this conflict with France would be for all or nothing – Spain would win or fall by the result.[53]

Nonetheless, French victory was far from certain in the 1630s;[54] Olivares' invasion plan in 1635 involved four different armies and two navies,[55] being described as 'the most ambitious military conception of early modern Europe.'[56] Although Spanish forces were within 16 miles of Paris at the height of their success that year,[57] Olivares' plan had severely overstretched Spanish resources and ultimately failed, leaving Spain to face a massive counter-attack in 1637.

By 1639, Olivares was attempting to convince the king to compromise with the French but without success;[58] he considered making a separate peace with the Dutch, which would have freed up resources for the war on France, but the Dutch occupation of Brazil and the Portuguese opposition to any peace involving relinquishing their colony made this impossible.[59] The destruction of the Spanish Atlantic fleet at the Battle of the Downs was another major blow, leaving a cash-strapped Spain unable to build a replacement force.[60] An attempt to bring Poland into war failed. By 1640, Olivares' foreign policy was creaking badly under pressure from an increasingly powerful France, with money increasingly tight.[citation needed]

Domestic policies

Olivares approached the problem of domestic policy through the prism of foreign affairs. Spain in the early 17th century was a collection of possessions – the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Valencia, Naples, Portugal, the autonomous provinces of Catalonia and Andalusia as well as the Netherlands, Milan etc. – all loosely joined together through the institution of the Castile monarchy and the person of Philip IV.[61]

Each part had different taxation, privileges and military arrangements; in practice, the level of taxation in many of the more peripheral provinces was less than in Castile, but the privileged position of the Castilian nobility at all senior levels of royal appointment was a contentious issue for the less favoured provinces. This loose system had successfully resisted reform and higher taxation before, resulting in Spain having had historically, up until the 1640s at least, less than the usual number of fiscal revolts for an early modern European state.[62]

By the 1620s and '30s, however, the ability of the Spanish monarchy to extract resources from Castile was at breaking point, as illustrated by Olivares' early failure to reform the millones food tax in Castile,[35] and with war continuing across Europe, new options were necessary.

 
The Battle of Montjuïc (1641), by Pandolfo Reschi, a Spanish failure during the Catalan Revolt which would help seal Olivares' fate as prime minister.

Like many contemporaries, Olivares was 'haunted' by Spain's potential decline,[54] and saw part of the solution at least in a reform of the Spanish state. Olivares saw Catalan and the other provinces as paying less to the crown than they should, and did not really understand why the inhabitants should object to a fairer distribution of taxes.[63] He was confident in the intellectual argument for a better defended, better ordered Spain, and never seems to have shown serious doubt that his plans would succeed,[64] or understood the growing hatred against his rule.[50]

These plans took form first in Olivares' Unión de Armas, or 'Union of Arms' concept, put forward in 1624. This would have involved the different elements of Philip's territories raising fixed quotas of soldiers in line with their size and population. Despite being portrayed by Olivares as a purely military plan, it reflected Olivares' desire for a more closely unified Spain[40] – although not, it is generally argued, a completely unified kingdom.[65]

Olivares' 'Union of Arms' plan failed in the face of opposition from the provinces, in particular Catalonia, leading him to offer his resignation to the king in 1626 – it was not accepted. The subsequent years were challenging financially for Spain. In 1627, Olivares attempted to deal with the problem of Philip's Genoese bankers – who had proved uncooperative in recent years – by declaring a state bankruptcy.[66]

With the Genoese debt now removed, Olivares hoped to turn to indigenous bankers for renewed funds. In practice, the plan was a disaster. The Spanish treasure fleet of 1628 was captured by the Dutch, and Spain's ability to borrow and transfer money across Europe declined sharply. Faced by the Dutch capture of Brazil, Olivares turned to Portugal in 1637, attempting to raise taxes to pay for a mission to reclaim the Portuguese colony. The result was a minor Portuguese uprising.[67]

 
Union of Arms (Unión de Armas) envisaged by Olivares.

The final years of Olivares' rule were marked by major uprisings in Catalonia and Portugal. Catalan histories have tended to represent Olivares as deliberately provoking the rebellion of 1640, in order that he could crush it and thereby unify Spain,[68] although this is considered doubtful by most historians.[69] Instead, it appears most likely that in the face of the increased French threat and the need to raise men, money and arms to defend the Peninsula, Olivares sent his army of 9,000 men into Catalonia expecting relatively limited resistance.[70] Chaos ensued in the form of a major revolt; Portugal followed suit later in the year in the face of Olivares' attempts to convince its nobility to serve in the war in Catalonia,[59] with Lisbon offering Philip's throne to the House of Braganza.

Fall from power

 
Olivares, 1635; tired, swollen and markedly aged at 48, 14 years since his previous portrait, by Velázquez.

Olivares' fall from power occurred for several reasons. The revolts in Catalonia and Portugal proved the immediate factor, placing the stability of Spain itself in doubt, but other factors played a part. Olivares increasingly suffered from mental illness in his later years, and was no longer as effective an administrator as he had once been.[38] He had also increasingly alienated the other Castilian nobility. His use of juntas – committees – packed with his own men, irritated many.[35] Olivares was also largely blamed by contemporaries for the new royal palace of Buen Retiro, the huge cost of which appeared to fly in the face of the wider austerity measures Olivares had championed in the 1630s.[71] 1641 had seen a disastrous bout of inflation, causing economic chaos.[72] More generally the Spanish people held his favourite responsible for the numerous misfortunes of the country in the 1640s.[citation needed]

Olivares did not let go of power readily. He attempted to use art and theatre in the 1630s to shore up his waning popularity amongst the elite but without success,[73] although he was able to overcome the attempts of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, whose family was a traditional enemy of the Counts of Olivares,[2] to remove him from power in the Andalusian revolt in 1641.[72] By the following year, his situation was weakening as the Catalan revolt dragged on.[74]

Olivares' nephew and favoured successor, along with Olivares' daughter and young baby had all died in 1626,[39] and in the absence of other children he chose to legitimate his bastard son, Don Enrique Felipez de Guzman in 1641. In doing so he had effectively disinherited another nephew and heir, causing huge family tensions within the upper echelons of Castilian society.[74] The king himself noted that it might be necessary to sacrifice Olivares' life in order to divert unpopularity from the royal house. The end was near, but the king parted with him reluctantly in January 1643, and only under the pressure of a court intrigue headed by Queen Isabel.[7]

He retired by the King's order first to Loeches, where he published an apology under the title of El Nicandro, which was perhaps written by an agent but was undeniably inspired by the fallen minister. El Nicandro was denounced to the Inquisition, and it is not impossible that Olivares might have ended in the prisons of the Holy Office, or on the scaffold, if he had not died beforehand of natural causes.[7] His rivals felt that Loeches remained too close to the court, and he was moved onto his sister's palace at Toro.[75]

He endeavoured to satisfy his passion for work, partly by sharing in the municipal government of the town and the regulation of its commons, woods and pastures.[7] He died, increasingly consumed by madness, in 1645. The Olivares library was not preserved as he had instructed after his death, and his collection of private and state papers was largely destroyed in an 18th-century fire.[76]

The Count-Duke became, and for long remained, in the opinion of his countrymen, the accepted model of a grasping and incapable favorite,[77] although this commonly held opinion about his personality has changed. His personal reputation has traditionally been portrayed unfavorably, especially compared to his French contemporary, Cardinal Richelieu, a trend which began in the 18th century.[78]

See also

References

  1. ^ Elliot 1986, p. 7.
  2. ^ a b Elliot, 1991, p. 8.
  3. ^ Elliot, 1991, p. 21.
  4. ^ a b Parker, 1984, p. 232.
  5. ^ Aercke, p. 141.
  6. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 165.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911, p. 84.
  8. ^ a b c d Munck, p. 52.
  9. ^ a b Elliot, 1984, p. 193.
  10. ^ Kamen, p. 214.
  11. ^ Zagorin, p. 33.
  12. ^ Elliot, 1986, p. 293.
  13. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 122.
  14. ^ a b Wedgewood, p. 145.
  15. ^ Elliot, 1984, p. 195.
  16. ^ a b Elliot, 1991, p. 19.
  17. ^ Brown, 1998, p. 42.
  18. ^ Brown, 2004, p. 59-60.
  19. ^ Armstrong, p. 31.
  20. ^ Elliott, 1986, p. 676.
  21. ^ Armstrong, pp. 63–64.
  22. ^ Corteguera, p. 134.
  23. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 126.
  24. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 129.
  25. ^ a b Parker, 1984, p. 233.
  26. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 164.
  27. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 134.
  28. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 132.
  29. ^ Aercke, p. 140.
  30. ^ Elliott, 1986, pp. 177–178.
  31. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 121.
  32. ^ Parker, 1984, pp. 232–233.
  33. ^ Elliot, 1984, p. 194.
  34. ^ Elliot, 1991, p. 47.
  35. ^ a b c Munck, p. 53.
  36. ^ Munck, pp. 52–53.
  37. ^ Mackay, p. 25.
  38. ^ a b Elliot, 1984, p. 196.
  39. ^ a b Parker, 1984, p. 235.
  40. ^ a b Parker, 1984, p. 234.
  41. ^ Elliot, p. 293.
  42. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 127.
  43. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 128.
  44. ^ Schama, p. 259.
  45. ^ a b Parker, 1984, p. 169.
  46. ^ a b Parker, 1985, p. 264.
  47. ^ a b Schama, p. 251.
  48. ^ Parker, 2004, p. 219.
  49. ^ Anderson, p. 42.
  50. ^ a b Polisensky, p. 222.
  51. ^ Mackay, p. 5.
  52. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 244.
  53. ^ Corteguera, p. 143.
  54. ^ a b Munck, p. 49.
  55. ^ Anderson, p. 37.
  56. ^ Stradling, 1986, p. 90.
  57. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 252.
  58. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 255.
  59. ^ a b Polisensky, p. 223.
  60. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 256.
  61. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 61.
  62. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 248.
  63. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 250.
  64. ^ Elliot, 1984, p. 207.
  65. ^ Zagorin, p. 34.
  66. ^ Munck, p. 55.
  67. ^ Parker, 1984, p. 251.
  68. ^ Elliot, 1984, p. ix.
  69. ^ Elliot, 1984, p. 202.
  70. ^ Zagorin, p. 35.
  71. ^ Aerckes, p. 141.
  72. ^ a b Polisensky, p. 224.
  73. ^ Aercke, p. 145.
  74. ^ a b Elliot, 1984, p. 528.
  75. ^ Elliot, 1985, p. 529.
  76. ^ Elliot, 1970, p. 119.
  77. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  78. ^ Parker, 1984 p. 245, noting Vallory 1722.

Sources

  • Aercke, Kristiaan P. The Gods of Play: Baroque Festival Performances as Rhetorical Discourse. Albany: State University of New York Press. (1994)
  • Anderson, M. S. War and Society in Europe of the Old Regime, 1618–1789. London: Fontana. (1988)
  • Armstrong, Walter, edited by Philip Gilbert Hamerton (1896). The Portfolio: Monographs on Artistic Subjects, Issues 28–30. London: Seeley and Co. Limited and New York: The Macmillan Co.
  • Brown, Jonathan, and John H. Elliott. A Palace for a King: The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV (revised and expanded edition). New Haven: Yale University Press. (2004) ISBN 978-0-300-10185-0
  • Brown, Jonathan, and Carmen Garrido. Velazquez: The Technique of Genius. New Haven: Yale University Press. (1998) ISBN 978-0-300-07293-8
  • Corteguera, Luis R. For the Common Good: Popular Politics in Barcelona, 1580–1640. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. (2002)
  • Elliott, J. H. The Statecraft of Olivares. in Elliot and Koenisburger (eds) 1970.
  • Elliott, J. H. The Revolt of the Catalans: A Study in the Decline of Spain, 1598–1640. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (1984)
  • Elliott, J. H. The Count-Duke of Olivares. The Statesman in an Age of Decline. Yale University: New Haven. (1986)
  • Elliott, J. H. Richelieu and Olivares. Cambridge: Canto Press. (1991)
  • Elliott, J. H. and H. G. Koenisburger (ed). The Diversity of History: Essays in Honour of Sir Henry Butterfield. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (1970)
  • Kamen, Henry. Spain, 1469–1714: A Society of Conflict. Harlow: Pearson Education. (2005)
  • Mackay, Ruth. The Limits of Royal Authority: Resistance and Authority in Seventeenth Century Castile. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (1999)
  • Munck, Thomas. Seventeenth Century Europe, 1598–1700. London: Macmillan. (1990)
  • Parker, Geoffrey. Europe in Crisis, 1598–1648. London: Fontana. (1984)
  • Parker, Geoffrey. The Dutch Revolt. London: Pelican Books. (1985)
  • Polisensky, J. V. The Thirty Years War. London: NEL. (1971)
  • Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. London: Fontana. (1991)
  • Stradling, R. A. 'Olivaries and the origins of the Franco-Spanish war, 1627–1635. in English Historical Review ci (1986).
  • de Vallory, Guillaime. Anecdotes du Ministere du Comte-Duc d'Olivares. Paris. (1722) (in French)
  • Wedgewood, C. V. The Thirty Years' War. London: Methuen. (1981)
  • Zagorin, Perez. Rebels and Rulers, 1500–1660. Volume II: Provincial rebellion: Revolutionary civil wars, 1560–1660. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (1992)
  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Olivares, Gaspar de Guzman". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 84–85.

Further reading

See the Estudios del reinado de Felipe IV. of Don Antonio Canovas (Madrid, 1889); and Don F Silvela's introduction, much less favourable to Olivares, to his edition of the Cartas de Sor María de Ágreda y del rey Felipe IV. (Madrid, 1885–1886).[1]

External links

  1. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 85.

gaspar, guzmán, count, duke, olivares, count, duke, olivares, redirects, here, other, holders, this, title, house, olivares, this, spanish, name, first, paternal, surname, guzmán, second, maternal, family, name, pimentel, gaspar, guzmán, pimentel, duke, sanlúc. Count Duke of Olivares redirects here For other holders of this title see House of Olivares In this Spanish name the first or paternal surname is Guzman and the second or maternal family name is Pimentel Gaspar de Guzman y Pimentel 1st Duke of Sanlucar 3rd Count of Olivares GE known as the Count Duke of Olivares taken by joining both his countship and subsequent dukedom 6 January 1587 1 22 July 1645 was a Spanish royal favourite Spanish valido of Philip IV and minister Appointed as Grandee on 10 April 1621 a day after the ending of the Twelve Years Truce to January 1643 he over exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform His policy of committing Spain to recapture Holland led to a renewal of the Eighty Years War while Spain was also embroiled in the Thirty Years War 1618 1648 In addition his attempts to centralise power and increase wartime taxation led to revolts in Catalonia and in Portugal which brought about his downfall The Most ExcellentThe Count Duke of OlivaresGEEquestrian Portrait of the Count Duke of Olivares by Diego VelazquezValido of the King of SpainIn office 25 January 1622 23 January 1643MonarchPhilip IVPreceded byBaltasar de ZunigaSucceeded byLuis de HaroPersonal detailsBorn 1587 01 06 6 January 1587Rome Papal StatesDied22 July 1645 1645 07 22 aged 58 Toro SpainSpouseInes de Zuniga y Velasco m 1607 wbr ParentsEnrique de Guzman y Ribera father Maria Pimentel de Fonseca es mother Signature Contents 1 Rise to power 2 Style of government 3 Foreign policies 4 Domestic policies 5 Fall from power 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 Further reading 10 External linksRise to power Edit Arms of the House of Olivares A relatively youthful Olivares in 1624 three years into his time in power dressed in robes of the Order of Calatrava by Diego Velazquez Olivares was born in Rome in 1587 where his father Enrique de Guzman 2nd Count of Olivares from one of Spain s oldest noble families 2 was the Spanish ambassador His mother died young and his father brought him up under a strict parental regime 3 He returned to Spain in 1599 and became student rector at Salamanca University 4 By background he was both a man of letters and well trained in arms 5 During the reign of King Philip III he was appointed to a post in the household of the heir apparent Philip by his maternal uncle Don Baltasar de Zuniga a key foreign policy advisor to Phillip III 6 who himself had already established a significant influence over the young prince 7 8 Olivares in turn rapidly became the young prince s most trusted advisor When Philip IV ascended the throne in 1621 at the age of sixteen he showed his confidence in Olivares by ordering that all papers requiring the royal signature should first be sent to the count duke 7 despite this Olivares then aged 34 had no real experience of administration 9 Olivares told his uncle de Zuniga who was to die the following year 8 that he was now the dominant force at court 10 he had become what is known in Spain as a valido something more than a prime minister the favourite and alter ego of the king His compound title is explained by the fact that he inherited the title of Count of Olivares but was created Duke of Sanlucar la Mayor by King Philip IV of Spain He begged the king to allow him to preserve his inherited title in combination with the new honour according to a practice almost unique in Spanish history Accordingly he was commonly spoken of as el conde duque 7 Olivares personality and appearance have attracted much comment especially by 17th century writers who were generally critical of them 9 He possessed a strikingly big heavy body and florid face 11 Contemporaries described an extravagant out size personality with a gift for endless self dramatisation 12 others more positively have outlined a determined perceptive and ambitious personality 8 Olivares enemies saw in him a desire to acquire excessive wealth and power 13 He disliked sports and light hearted entertainment 14 but was a good horseman albeit hampered by his weight in later life 15 Olivares did not share the king s taste for personally acquiring art and literature although he may have helped assemble the king s own collection 16 and it was he who brought to Philip s attention the young artist Diego Velazquez in 1623 17 For himself he formed a vast collection of state papers ancient and contemporary which he endeavoured to protect from destruction by entailing them as an heirloom He also formed a splendid aviary for the Buen Retiro Palace 7 which lent him comfort after the death of his daughter but which opened the door for his enemies to nickname the entire Retiro the Gallinero or the hencoop 18 Velazquez painted at least three portraits of his friend and original patron producing the baroque equestrian portrait along with the standing portraits now at the Hermitage and Sao Paulo It is possible that other portraits by Velazquez commissioned by the king were destroyed after Olivares fall 19 in a copy of Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Riding School his figure was painted over 20 though a few minor portraits made in the conde duque s last years of power remain 21 Style of government EditThe royal favourite who also was Sumiller de Corps and Caballerizo mayor to the King came to power with a desire to commit the monarchy to a crusade of reform 22 with his early recommendations being extremely radical 23 The heart of the problem Olivares felt was Spain s moral and spiritual decline 24 De Zuniga and Olivares had both presented Philip IV with the concept of restoring the kingdom to its condition under Philip II undoing the alleged decline that had occurred under the king s father Philip III 25 and in particular his royal favourite the Duke of Lerma 26 Olivares was concerned that Spain was too attached to the idea of limpieza de sangre purity of blood and worried about Castilians disinclination for manual work 27 For Olivares the concept of Spain was centred on the monarchy and Philip IV as a person unlike his French contemporary Cardinal Richelieu Olivares did not elaborate a concept of the state as separate from the person of the king 28 Olivares was inclined to see domestic policy as a tool in support of foreign policy a common view amongst contemporary arbitristas such as Sancho de Moncada and Jeronimo Zeballos 8 Like many other contemporaries he had a keen interest in astrology and its potential impact on the world around him 29 Naturally he incorporated that interest into political expression he promoted Philip as The Planet King the Sun traditionally the fourth planet was a fitting emblem for the fourth Philip of Spain taking for his own symbol the sunflower 30 Whilst displaying huge confidence in his own capabilities and judgment 14 he also felt considerable doubt and uneasiness over his position as chief minister to the king 31 Olivares was well known for his passion for work Olivares would rise early go to confession wake Philip IV and discuss the day s events with him before then working throughout the rest of the day often until 11 o clock at night 32 Initially Olivares would meet with the king three times a day although this declined over time until he met with him only once a day 33 Whilst living a private life of Spartan austerity himself 16 Olivares was skillful in using the formal and elaborate protocol of the court as a way of controlling the ambitions of Philip s enemies and rivals 34 Determined to attempt to improve the bureaucratic Castilian system of government during the 1620s Olivares began to create juntas smaller governmental committees to increase the speed of decision making By the 1630s these were increasingly packed with Olivares own placemen tasked to implement his policies 35 He placed tight controls on the use of special royal favours to circumvent tight spending controls 36 The result was a very particular combination of centralised power in the form of Olivares and loose government executed by small committees 37 Over time Olivares began to suffer under his tremendous workload developing sleeping disorders and later in life clearly suffering from mental illness 25 He became increasingly impatient with those who disagreed with him flying into rages and refusing to listen to advice proffered by his own advisers 38 His behaviour may also have been exacerbated by the severe bloodletting and excessive purging he received from his doctors at key moments in his career 39 Olivares wrote extensively although there are differences of opinion amongst modern scholars on his work some find them forceful incisive and persuasive 40 others consider them inflated and tortuous prose wandering down interminable labyrinths 41 Foreign policies EditFor twenty two years Olivares directed Spain s foreign policy It was a period of constant war and finally of disaster abroad and of rebellion at home Olivares foreign policy was based around his assessment that Philip IV was surrounded by jealous rivals across Europe who wished to attack his position as a champion of the Catholic Church in particular Olivares saw the rebellious Dutch as a key enemy 42 Although Olivares made much of religion as a facet of Spain s foreign policy in practice he often overruled that principle 43 It has also been argued that Olivares dislike of flamboyant spending may have influenced his views of the Dutch Republic known for its relatively open show of wealth 44 The re taking of Breda an early Spanish success in the Eighty Years War that would ultimately result in Olivares fall from power by Diego Velazquez Olivares first key decision came in 1621 Under Philip III Spain had successfully intervened in the Electorate of the Palatinate in combination with the forces of the Emperor Ferdinand a fellow Habsburg during 1618 20 surrounding the Dutch provinces that had rebelled against Spanish rule some forty years before 45 An armistice had successfully held since April 1609 but in his role as foreign policy advisor Olivares uncle de Zuniga had brought Spain closer and closer to recommencing hostilities as a means of improving Spain s negotiating position with the Dutch 46 Olivares new influence was central to the decision to finally abandon the armistice in favour of renewed military action using the Army of Flanders and economic warfare ending the Twelve Years Truce and attacking Dutch fleets and applying trading embargoes 47 This policy would ultimately fail over the next thirty years to some the Spanish recommencement of the war has appeared surprising 45 whilst it can also be explained as a misreading of internal Dutch politics 46 Whilst the strategy itself was a failure Olivares tactics his attempt to combine military and economic warfare have since been praised as a shrewd policy 47 For the remainder of the Eighty Years War Olivares would pursue a Netherlands first strategy 48 focusing his resources and attention on delivering success in the Netherlands first with the hope of dealing with the other challenges facing the Spanish across Europe once this key Spanish possession had been secured For the first fifteen years of the war this strategy proved largely successful Spain made considerable early advances against the Dutch finally retaking the key city of Breda in 1624 albeit at huge expense 49 In 1634 against the backdrop of Swedish successes across northern Europe Olivares was crucial to the creation of a fresh Spanish army in northern Italy and the projection of that force under the leadership of Cardinal Infante Ferdinand along the Spanish Road into Germany where the almost miraculous appearance 4 of the army defeated the Protestant alliance at the Battle of Nordlingen The scene had been set Olivares believed for a renewed attack on the Dutch citation needed Olivares strategy ultimately failed due to the entry of France into the war His handling of War of the Mantuan Succession which started to pitch France against the Habsburgs in northern Italy and would ultimately result in the French invasion of Spain 50 has been much criticised 51 By 1634 France seeing the Spanish successes in Germany and the defeat of her Swedish allies began raising the political stakes taking provocative military action on a small scale In 1635 Spain responded by intervening against the Elector of Trier 52 a significant move that effectively forced a French declaration of war By this stage in the war Olivares advice to the king was that this conflict with France would be for all or nothing Spain would win or fall by the result 53 Nonetheless French victory was far from certain in the 1630s 54 Olivares invasion plan in 1635 involved four different armies and two navies 55 being described as the most ambitious military conception of early modern Europe 56 Although Spanish forces were within 16 miles of Paris at the height of their success that year 57 Olivares plan had severely overstretched Spanish resources and ultimately failed leaving Spain to face a massive counter attack in 1637 By 1639 Olivares was attempting to convince the king to compromise with the French but without success 58 he considered making a separate peace with the Dutch which would have freed up resources for the war on France but the Dutch occupation of Brazil and the Portuguese opposition to any peace involving relinquishing their colony made this impossible 59 The destruction of the Spanish Atlantic fleet at the Battle of the Downs was another major blow leaving a cash strapped Spain unable to build a replacement force 60 An attempt to bring Poland into war failed By 1640 Olivares foreign policy was creaking badly under pressure from an increasingly powerful France with money increasingly tight citation needed Domestic policies EditOlivares approached the problem of domestic policy through the prism of foreign affairs Spain in the early 17th century was a collection of possessions the kingdoms of Castile Aragon Valencia Naples Portugal the autonomous provinces of Catalonia and Andalusia as well as the Netherlands Milan etc all loosely joined together through the institution of the Castile monarchy and the person of Philip IV 61 Each part had different taxation privileges and military arrangements in practice the level of taxation in many of the more peripheral provinces was less than in Castile but the privileged position of the Castilian nobility at all senior levels of royal appointment was a contentious issue for the less favoured provinces This loose system had successfully resisted reform and higher taxation before resulting in Spain having had historically up until the 1640s at least less than the usual number of fiscal revolts for an early modern European state 62 By the 1620s and 30s however the ability of the Spanish monarchy to extract resources from Castile was at breaking point as illustrated by Olivares early failure to reform the millones food tax in Castile 35 and with war continuing across Europe new options were necessary The Battle of Montjuic 1641 by Pandolfo Reschi a Spanish failure during the Catalan Revolt which would help seal Olivares fate as prime minister Like many contemporaries Olivares was haunted by Spain s potential decline 54 and saw part of the solution at least in a reform of the Spanish state Olivares saw Catalan and the other provinces as paying less to the crown than they should and did not really understand why the inhabitants should object to a fairer distribution of taxes 63 He was confident in the intellectual argument for a better defended better ordered Spain and never seems to have shown serious doubt that his plans would succeed 64 or understood the growing hatred against his rule 50 These plans took form first in Olivares Union de Armas or Union of Arms concept put forward in 1624 This would have involved the different elements of Philip s territories raising fixed quotas of soldiers in line with their size and population Despite being portrayed by Olivares as a purely military plan it reflected Olivares desire for a more closely unified Spain 40 although not it is generally argued a completely unified kingdom 65 Olivares Union of Arms plan failed in the face of opposition from the provinces in particular Catalonia leading him to offer his resignation to the king in 1626 it was not accepted The subsequent years were challenging financially for Spain In 1627 Olivares attempted to deal with the problem of Philip s Genoese bankers who had proved uncooperative in recent years by declaring a state bankruptcy 66 With the Genoese debt now removed Olivares hoped to turn to indigenous bankers for renewed funds In practice the plan was a disaster The Spanish treasure fleet of 1628 was captured by the Dutch and Spain s ability to borrow and transfer money across Europe declined sharply Faced by the Dutch capture of Brazil Olivares turned to Portugal in 1637 attempting to raise taxes to pay for a mission to reclaim the Portuguese colony The result was a minor Portuguese uprising 67 Union of Arms Union de Armas envisaged by Olivares The final years of Olivares rule were marked by major uprisings in Catalonia and Portugal Catalan histories have tended to represent Olivares as deliberately provoking the rebellion of 1640 in order that he could crush it and thereby unify Spain 68 although this is considered doubtful by most historians 69 Instead it appears most likely that in the face of the increased French threat and the need to raise men money and arms to defend the Peninsula Olivares sent his army of 9 000 men into Catalonia expecting relatively limited resistance 70 Chaos ensued in the form of a major revolt Portugal followed suit later in the year in the face of Olivares attempts to convince its nobility to serve in the war in Catalonia 59 with Lisbon offering Philip s throne to the House of Braganza Fall from power Edit Olivares 1635 tired swollen and markedly aged at 48 14 years since his previous portrait by Velazquez Olivares fall from power occurred for several reasons The revolts in Catalonia and Portugal proved the immediate factor placing the stability of Spain itself in doubt but other factors played a part Olivares increasingly suffered from mental illness in his later years and was no longer as effective an administrator as he had once been 38 He had also increasingly alienated the other Castilian nobility His use of juntas committees packed with his own men irritated many 35 Olivares was also largely blamed by contemporaries for the new royal palace of Buen Retiro the huge cost of which appeared to fly in the face of the wider austerity measures Olivares had championed in the 1630s 71 1641 had seen a disastrous bout of inflation causing economic chaos 72 More generally the Spanish people held his favourite responsible for the numerous misfortunes of the country in the 1640s citation needed Olivares did not let go of power readily He attempted to use art and theatre in the 1630s to shore up his waning popularity amongst the elite but without success 73 although he was able to overcome the attempts of the Duke of Medina Sidonia whose family was a traditional enemy of the Counts of Olivares 2 to remove him from power in the Andalusian revolt in 1641 72 By the following year his situation was weakening as the Catalan revolt dragged on 74 Olivares nephew and favoured successor along with Olivares daughter and young baby had all died in 1626 39 and in the absence of other children he chose to legitimate his bastard son Don Enrique Felipez de Guzman in 1641 In doing so he had effectively disinherited another nephew and heir causing huge family tensions within the upper echelons of Castilian society 74 The king himself noted that it might be necessary to sacrifice Olivares life in order to divert unpopularity from the royal house The end was near but the king parted with him reluctantly in January 1643 and only under the pressure of a court intrigue headed by Queen Isabel 7 He retired by the King s order first to Loeches where he published an apology under the title of El Nicandro which was perhaps written by an agent but was undeniably inspired by the fallen minister El Nicandro was denounced to the Inquisition and it is not impossible that Olivares might have ended in the prisons of the Holy Office or on the scaffold if he had not died beforehand of natural causes 7 His rivals felt that Loeches remained too close to the court and he was moved onto his sister s palace at Toro 75 He endeavoured to satisfy his passion for work partly by sharing in the municipal government of the town and the regulation of its commons woods and pastures 7 He died increasingly consumed by madness in 1645 The Olivares library was not preserved as he had instructed after his death and his collection of private and state papers was largely destroyed in an 18th century fire 76 The Count Duke became and for long remained in the opinion of his countrymen the accepted model of a grasping and incapable favorite 77 although this commonly held opinion about his personality has changed His personal reputation has traditionally been portrayed unfavorably especially compared to his French contemporary Cardinal Richelieu a trend which began in the 18th century 78 See also EditHistory of Spain Thirty Years War Equestrian Portrait of the Count Duke of Olivares Portrait of Duke de OlivaresReferences Edit Elliot 1986 p 7 a b Elliot 1991 p 8 Elliot 1991 p 21 a b Parker 1984 p 232 Aercke p 141 Parker 1984 p 165 a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911 p 84 a b c d Munck p 52 a b Elliot 1984 p 193 Kamen p 214 Zagorin p 33 Elliot 1986 p 293 Elliot 1970 p 122 a b Wedgewood p 145 Elliot 1984 p 195 a b Elliot 1991 p 19 Brown 1998 p 42 Brown 2004 p 59 60 Armstrong p 31 Elliott 1986 p 676 Armstrong pp 63 64 Corteguera p 134 Elliot 1970 p 126 Elliot 1970 p 129 a b Parker 1984 p 233 Parker 1984 p 164 Elliot 1970 p 134 Elliot 1970 p 132 Aercke p 140 Elliott 1986 pp 177 178 Elliot 1970 p 121 Parker 1984 pp 232 233 Elliot 1984 p 194 Elliot 1991 p 47 a b c Munck p 53 Munck pp 52 53 Mackay p 25 a b Elliot 1984 p 196 a b Parker 1984 p 235 a b Parker 1984 p 234 Elliot p 293 Elliot 1970 p 127 Elliot 1970 p 128 Schama p 259 a b Parker 1984 p 169 a b Parker 1985 p 264 a b Schama p 251 Parker 2004 p 219 Anderson p 42 a b Polisensky p 222 Mackay p 5 Parker 1984 p 244 Corteguera p 143 a b Munck p 49 Anderson p 37 Stradling 1986 p 90 Parker 1984 p 252 Parker 1984 p 255 a b Polisensky p 223 Parker 1984 p 256 Parker 1984 p 61 Parker 1984 p 248 Parker 1984 p 250 Elliot 1984 p 207 Zagorin p 34 Munck p 55 Parker 1984 p 251 Elliot 1984 p ix Elliot 1984 p 202 Zagorin p 35 Aerckes p 141 a b Polisensky p 224 Aercke p 145 a b Elliot 1984 p 528 Elliot 1985 p 529 Elliot 1970 p 119 Chisholm 1911 Parker 1984 p 245 noting Vallory 1722 Sources EditAercke Kristiaan P The Gods of Play Baroque Festival Performances as Rhetorical Discourse Albany State University of New York Press 1994 Anderson M S War and Society in Europe of the Old Regime 1618 1789 London Fontana 1988 Armstrong Walter edited by Philip Gilbert Hamerton 1896 The Portfolio Monographs on Artistic Subjects Issues 28 30 London Seeley and Co Limited and New York The Macmillan Co Brown Jonathan and John H Elliott A Palace for a King The Buen Retiro and the Court of Philip IV revised and expanded edition New Haven Yale University Press 2004 ISBN 978 0 300 10185 0 Brown Jonathan and Carmen Garrido Velazquez The Technique of Genius New Haven Yale University Press 1998 ISBN 978 0 300 07293 8 Corteguera Luis R For the Common Good Popular Politics in Barcelona 1580 1640 Ithaca Cornell University Press 2002 Elliott J H The Statecraft of Olivares in Elliot and Koenisburger eds 1970 Elliott J H The Revolt of the Catalans A Study in the Decline of Spain 1598 1640 Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1984 Elliott J H The Count Duke of Olivares The Statesman in an Age of Decline Yale University New Haven 1986 Elliott J H Richelieu and Olivares Cambridge Canto Press 1991 Elliott J H and H G Koenisburger ed The Diversity of History Essays in Honour of Sir Henry Butterfield London Routledge and Kegan Paul 1970 Kamen Henry Spain 1469 1714 A Society of Conflict Harlow Pearson Education 2005 Mackay Ruth The Limits of Royal Authority Resistance and Authority in Seventeenth Century Castile Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1999 Munck Thomas Seventeenth Century Europe 1598 1700 London Macmillan 1990 Parker Geoffrey Europe in Crisis 1598 1648 London Fontana 1984 Parker Geoffrey The Dutch Revolt London Pelican Books 1985 Polisensky J V The Thirty Years War London NEL 1971 Schama Simon The Embarrassment of Riches An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age London Fontana 1991 Stradling R A Olivaries and the origins of the Franco Spanish war 1627 1635 inEnglish Historical Reviewci 1986 de Vallory Guillaime Anecdotes du Ministere du Comte Duc d Olivares Paris 1722 in French Wedgewood C V The Thirty Years War London Methuen 1981 Zagorin Perez Rebels and Rulers 1500 1660 Volume II Provincial rebellion Revolutionary civil wars 1560 1660 Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1992 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Olivares Gaspar de Guzman Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 20 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 84 85 Further reading EditSee the Estudios del reinado de Felipe IV of Don Antonio Canovas Madrid 1889 and Don F Silvela s introduction much less favourable to Olivares to his edition of the Cartas de Sor Maria de Agreda y del rey Felipe IV Madrid 1885 1886 1 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conde Duque de Olivares Spanish nobilityPreceded byEnrique de Guzman Count of Olivares Succeeded byEnrique Felipe de GuzmanPreceded byNew creation Duke of Sanlucar Chisholm 1911 p 85 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gaspar de Guzman Count Duke of Olivares amp oldid 1132691317, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, 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